Peru declares state of emergency for quake-hit areas

A woman weeps next to her destroyed house at Arequipa, 520km south of Lima.

AFP: STR

Peru has declared a 60-day state of emergency in various areas, two days after a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the country's southern coast.

The measure, announced on Friday (local time) by Peru's council of ministers, aims to respond to needs in the country's vast southern region where mud houses collapsed in rural areas in three departments.

Teams from the National Institute of Civil Defense (INDECI) are evaluating people's health and providing health services, said prime minister Juan Jimenez, who toured the area on Thursday.

Emergency work will centre on housing infrastructure, transportation links, schools and basic services affected by the earthquake, which civil defence workers say left at least six people injured.

Mr Jimenez said the authorities were focusing on the water supply in damaged towns and that he has instructed regional governments to coordinate with civil defence workers.

The earthquake, which hit just before noon on Wednesday, occurred in the Pacific Ocean, with an epicentre 72 kilometres south of the town of Lomas.